What are advantages of doing a fellowship instead of starting to $ work $ ?

[saoj]

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Just wondering what are the decision factors that lead a doctor to go into a fellowship instead of just start working as an attendant. There must be some great advantages I assume. What is the motivation?

 

[FrkyBgStok]

Doing something more specific. If you want to be a plastic surgeon or a cardiologist and not just a general surgeon you have to do a fellowship. and more specificity also means (generally) more money. Also if you want to work with kids, but in a surgical aspect for example, you would need a pediatric fellowship. Basically it is what you want to do. If you want to be more general, a fellowship is a waste.

 

[alerk323]

I assume he means why not work for a year or two and make some big bucks before going in to a fellowship? Maybe not, a friend of a friend just finished residency and is now working as a hospitalist in new york city living it up before going into a fellowship. That does sound pretty appealing... I guess it depends on what stage life you find yourself in at that point.

 

[Law2Doc]

I assume he means why not work for a year or two and make some big bucks before going in to a fellowship? Maybe not, a friend of a friend just finished residency and is now working as a hospitalist in new york city living it up before going into a fellowship. That does sound pretty appealing... I guess it depends on what stage life you find yourself in at that point.

Also depends on the specialty. In some specialties you pretty much need a fellowship to get a job. In some cases spending a year as a hospitalist won't be a positive on the CV for someone bound for a subspecialty. And in some fields jobs are tight and so another year of paid training isn't a bad way to wait out a bad economy.

 

[kpcrew]

Well I guess if you work as an attendant and people pay cash for your gas, you could lowball your earnings and pay less tax so that's a plus.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

Well I guess if you work as an attendant and people pay cash for your gas, you could lowball your earnings and pay less tax so that's a plus.

not true. the OP could also do parking. that may pay more depending on the location.

 

[PsP for real]

Everyone knows being an attendant is where the money is😎

 

[thesauce]

Doing something more specific. If you want to be a plastic surgeon or a cardiologist and not just a general surgeon you have to do a fellowship. and more specificity also means (generally) more money. Also if you want to work with kids, but in a surgical aspect for example, you would need a pediatric fellowship. Basically it is what you want to do. If you want to be more general, a fellowship is a waste.

Cardiology is a fellowship of internal medicine

 

[thesauce]

There are other reasons. If you want to break into a specific location, practice setup, academics, etc, a fellowship may help make you more competitive.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

Cardiology is a fellowship of internal medicine

yes. i was throwing out some popular fellowship trained specialties. i only listed surgery in the second one as i didn't feel it was that necessary. apparently it was.

 

[Socrates25]

I assume he means why not work for a year or two and make some big bucks before going in to a fellowship? Maybe not, a friend of a friend just finished residency and is now working as a hospitalist in new york city living it up before going into a fellowship. That does sound pretty appealing... I guess it depends on what stage life you find yourself in at that point.

That will work PROVIDED you are disciplined about it. How many of us could go from making 40k per year to 200k per year and then all of a sudden transition back to 40k per year that you get paid as a fellow?

Like it or not, many people think they are going to do fellowship later after working for a few years but they find it hard to go back to the lifestyle of a "poor" resident.

If you can find a way to live like a resident while you are making attending-level $$$$, then delaying fellowship after residency makes sense.

 

[IlDestriero]

That will work PROVIDED you are disciplined about it. How many of us could go from making 40k per year to 200k per year and then all of a sudden transition back to 40k per year that you get paid as a fellow?

Like it or not, many people think they are going to do fellowship later after working for a few years but they find it hard to go back to the lifestyle of a "poor" resident.

If you can find a way to live like a resident while you are making attending-level $$$$, then delaying fellowship after residency makes sense.

I did a fellowship after a few years as an attending. I just put money aside to supplement my income. My wife also had a good job. I had a better lifestyle than most of the junior attendings. The unexpected issue I faced was living pretty well in an extremely expensive city. I didn't relate well to the other residents and fellows, and never had them over to my rental house. I just kept my mouth shut when they complained about debt, credit, beater cars breaking down, interview expenses, etc. I also bought the first round at happy hour.👍 And, I stopped drinking whisky out as you look like a jackass drinking $20/oz scotch when everyone else is having $7 pitcher specials.
Only one girl repeatedly brought it up (house, car, vacation, etc.) She had some significant issues. I just stopped talking to her completely.
It can be done.